A Little Thought About Friendship In The Samurai ‘s Garden.

Published on by ortensia

I finished the book.Slowly but surely I did it even if with a bit of delay compare to my book club companions. In my defense I must say that,in the last two months, my bed side table has been the home of five books of which three I borrowed and had to return.On top of that,like every other human on this planet,I only have 24 hours for each of my day and I really need some of them for my beauty sleep.

Back to the book, I will say that the second half has been a delightful and gracious reading as much as the first one.I already mentioned how since the first few pages I was captivated by the author light writing and her ability to define the leading characters without even describing them.Once the introductions are made,page after page,they take shape,spontaneously.Places follow the same pattern.
The Samurai’s garden grows in parallel with a young boy starting his journey to become a man. His thirst for life and knowledge of the human nature makes him enter the adults world more knowingly then forcefully.Around him there is net of characters undoubtably playing a key role in the development of the story and in Stephen -San nearly Kafkaesque metamorphosis.
In my vision The Samurai’s Garden is a little book about human nature with its strength and weakness.It is a little book about relationships and loyalty, inside families, between friends and between lovers.
To me,friendship is the leading topic in between the lines.It is the source of every action,the food of every feeling and the hand that hold the threads of the story.

A while ago I wrote a post about friendship.The real one:the one that never makes you judge or feel judged.
“A real friend never judge”.Since I started to apply this simple rule to myself and my so called friends, I realized they were not as many as I thought and,most shockingly, they were not even the ones I thought they were.Applying the same rule to myself,it meant instead coming to terms with the fact that I am not that such good friend I thought I was.Harsh discovery but inspiring and enlightening. If I would have applied that rule sooner I would have wasted less time with the wrong people,I would have been hurt less and I would have hurt less.

Toni and I used to live in the same estate for years until, she moved further south and I moved further north.Despite the busy life we both have and the distance,we kept in touch and try to meet regularly,usually half way.
Now, you are probably thinking I lost the plot and I am mixing posts here.I am not!May be the plot I do loose it,sometimes, but not in this occasion.I am not certainly mixing the posts either and when you will get to the end of it,you will understand what I am talking about.This is not a threat.I swear!

Sunday morning I finished the book and on Sunday afternoon I met my friend Toni.Driving back home, I was mentally going through what to write on my book’s review and suddenly my speculations about the book merged with my thoughts about the woman I just had lunch with.In the last twelve years she has been a constant presence in my life.I actually never realized that,in my adult life,she is indeed my oldest Friend.The “F” is not a typo mistake but the result of the fact that in all these years neither I ever felt judged nor I ever judged her once.I suppose that our relationship developed in a such spontaneous way that I never had to question or label the nature of it.We might not see each other every week anymore but we sure turn to each other when something is up.

When you move town there is always the promise to keep in touch with the old neighbors and friends etc.It might happen for a while but,then,both sides go on with their new lives. The distance sure doesn’t help and soon becomes the perfect excuse to not make the effort.Truth must be said,if you don’t feel to make the effort may be it doesn’t worth it but, if and when you do it,then it is when you are off to meet your True Friend.

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41 thoughts on “A Little Thought About Friendship In The Samurai ‘s Garden.”

  1. What you have written is so true. I have had one friend since 1984. (You probably weren’t born yet….) We met in Ft Ord, CA We were both military wives and librarians. She has moved several times, as have I. She was our first and most frequent visitor when we moved to California. I know see her monthly when I visit northern Virginia. We seem to always pick up where we left off, with not a lot of need to catch up.

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    1. This kind of friendship are rarer and when they start in adult time are even better and more sincere because there is no background to create prejudices.
      P.s
      Lol in 1984 I was well into my primary school years and in Italy we start late…..over six years old🤣🤣🤣I’m born 1974

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  4. I agree with you. I too only realized about true friendships later in life. It’s rare for me. I’ve had one friend since I was a child that we keep up with each other. Life takes over and we get busy but we still meet up. It’s nice to have that. I really enjoyed this post! Have a great day!😃

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    1. Thank you.Funny enough I instead feel I emotionally miles away from my closest childhood friends.and in fairness I have never been the best friend type and in adulthood is even harder and then there is the kids and sooner or later something happens because of the different types of parenting😱
      But you can find your matchI got friend if you are lucky and let yourself be yourself😉

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      1. I know what you mean. My childhood friend and I have very different lifestyles. It is hard because life takes over. I’m off to a busy day right now lol. Have a great day! 😊😜

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  5. An insightful piece of prose.

    A more serious post than usual but very reflective.

    Finding true friendship of course is not a funny subject as it is something that all of us long for and there are some sadly who never find it.

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  6. When it comes to friendship, this Chimp doesn’t monkey around. I just don’t hang out with anyone. And regarding the hours in the day, you are a mom. Mothers are expected to cram 50 hours of work in only 24 hours. Don’t start slacking.

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    1. Lol no slacking allowed😉I must say I m sociable but pretty good on my own too.I had some nasty experience with “friends” and now I’m lucky I found a few good one but we are all different,what it matters is that we are fine the way we are.My husband is a solitary wolf too and doesn’t miss social life 😉have a good day dear😊

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  11. I can definitely relate about what happens to friendships when you move town. Although you promise each other that you will always keep in touch, eventually both will become too busy with their new lives and the efforts to communicate die down. This is what happened with me and my college friends. So, I hope the new friends I made who already moved, I get to keep them . I guess the effort should always be there for it to work =)

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    1. Anchio non sono mai stata tipa da miglior amica,in eta’ adults e tea Donne ancora meno ma ci sono eccezzioni,solo le basi devino essere quelle giuste e non quelle delle quindicenni 😉

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  13. My dearest, you are so right!
    True friends are there for you and never judge you, never make you feel judged or belittled, and they’re there for a lifetime. And often we’re surprised to realise that the Friends are not the ones we thought they were…
    It happened twice in my life to have such an “epiphany”. And now that I’m 47, I’m realising that appearances are really tricky….

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  14. Hi Ortensia (awesome name, I really like it!) I wanted to say thank you for making this post. I’ve never heard of this book before but I am definitely going to check it out. I even might buy it on my Nook tonight. Thanks for inspiring me to read it. By the way, my name is Rocky and I blog over on The Rocky Safari http://www.therockysafari.com would be awesome to connect and keep in touch with you! I’m going to follow your blog now 😀

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    1. Hi and thank you for stopping by and very nice to meet u indeed.
      Get the book is really nice,frankly not on I would have picked out of my initiative either but happy I did read it.
      I was browsing around ur blog.its awesome 😀

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      1. Absolutely! I’ll even come back and let you know what I thought of it (just be patient, sometimes it takes me a longggg time to finish a book 😂) and wow thank you so so much! I’m glad you like my blog! 😃 Really appreciate that!

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Pingback: What I Learned From The Samurai's Garden - The Rocky Safari

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